As is shown in Patent Document 1, for example, a conveyor that is provided with non-contact type turn bars and conveys an aluminum belt-form web is known. In this type of conveyor, jets of fluid are expelled from the turn bar onto the web so that the web is supported in a non-contact manner.
The conveyor described in Patent Document 1 is provided with a turn bar adjuster that alters the position of the turn bar in order to adjust the center position of the web being conveyed and center the web easily and accurately while the web is being conveyed.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication
When a belt-form body that is fed from a roll body, over which the belt-form body has been wound multiple times, is to undergo processing or the like, the positioning accuracy of the belt-form body in the processing position is crucial. Because of this, the processing position of the belt-form body is fixed by a regulation portion or the like at a predetermined position. On the other hand, there are also cases where the position of the belt-form body on the upstream side of the processing position is unstable due to the winding accuracy of the belt-form body when the belt-form body was being wound onto the roll body, or due to mispositioning of the belt-form body when the belt-form body was being conveyed to the processing position or the like. As a result of this, the belt-form body is inclined within a plane that includes the surface of the belt-form body and this causes localized stress to act on portions partway along the length of the belt-form body, so that there is a possibility that deformations and the like may be generated in the belt-form body. In particular, in recent years, there are cases where a belt-form body that is made from extremely thin, bendable glass is being conveyed. In such cases, it is necessary to prevent stress from acting on the belt-form body even more than in a conventional case.
In order to prevent this type of deformation and the like in a belt-form body, it is necessary to guide the belt-form body without applying any stress to the belt-form body even in cases in which portions of the belt-form body that are on the upstream-side are inclined, within a plane that includes the surface of the belt-form body, relative to portions of the belt-form body that are on the downstream side. However, in the conveyor disclosed in Patent Document 1, no consideration is given to the idea of the downstream side of the belt-form body being fixed, and neither is any consideration given to the idea of reducing the stress that acts on the belt-form body when the belt-form body is inclined when seen from a perpendicular direction relative to the surface of the belt-form body.